In many disciplines, such as medical diagnostics, environmental monitoring and chemical analysis, it is desirable to detect the presence of a given analyte in a solution. For example, detecting biological analytes such as bacteria, antigens, antibodies, receptors, ligands and nucleic acids is pivotal to diagnostic test methods for a wide variety of diseases and conditions and is important to research, forensics and risk assessment applications.
Typical methods for detecting biological analytes rely on specific binding between a target analyte and a corresponding binding molecule to form a complex that can be readily detected. Examples of such complexes are receptor-ligand interactions such as an antigen-antibody interaction. Nucleic acids may be detected by hybridizing to substantially complementary nucleic acid sequences.
Multiplexed analyte detection, simultaneously performing different assays on the same sample or multiple samples, is on the rise. Examples of multiplexed analyte detection assays include DNA and protein chips and bead based assays. However, these methods can prove unsatisfactory in many applications.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for compositions and methods for improving the sensitivity, speed and simplicity of analyte detection, and especially for such compositions and methods that are readily adaptable for detecting a wide variety of analytes including multiplexed analyte detection. The instant disclosure provides methods and compositions that meet these and other needs.